Lessons Learned
by WorthlessLump
Summary: AU InuKag fic Big Kids seem to know everything, whereas the younger, more naiive generation is left in the shadows of their knowledge. But there are some things that you can only truly learn as a child...AN: personally, I think this story is poo, but weve
1. Kagome's POV

Remember childhood, when everything was always magical? So big compared to you, it seemed that the world of grown-ups was always so hard to comprehend. Love meant friends and grandparents. Finances were the milk money jingling in your pocket, making music with every step. Life was always so simple. Say please and thank you, avoid cooties, and everything would turn out fine. The world would only completely come into perspective when you were old enough to watch late-night television. But sometimes, lessons can only be learned as a child…

It was an average day at the kindergarten center. Snacks, songs, sleep. Make-believe during playtime, then the bus ride home, where you got to sit with the wise. The elite. The big kids. Although their strange behavior and 'red spots' were a bit odd, they were always the smartest, much more so than mommy or daddy. Only until you were one of them could you be anything but a child, foolish and unknowing.

"Kagome's a big fat fatty-head!" a shrill voice broke the air as the make-believe was being put to rest. Reality came back as we were told to pack our book bags.

Tears flooded my eyes and my lip trembled. It was no sin to cry then, especially when you'd just been called a big fat fatty-head. I wiped furiously at my tears as I retrieved my jacket from my cubbyhole.

"Dummy…I am not a fatty-head…" I sniveled to myself. My incoherent muttering never ceased, even as I plopped down into a bus seat.

"Are you okay?" a tiny voice asked. I kept my eyes downcast, staring at my shoes and kicking the seat in front of me. I became entranced with the flashing pink lights above the soles. I kicked, they flashed. Kick, flash. Kick kick. Flash flash.

I was so preoccupied with the 'magic shoes' that I failed to notice the slight shift of the seat as the person whom the voice belonged to plopped down beside me to join in the staring.

"I like your shoes." The voice piped. I finally looked up to be greeted with the most intense amber eyes I had ever seen. A silver mop of hair poked out from a red cap, framing a round, tanned face.

"Thanks. I like yours too." I voiced as I eyed his red power-ranger sneakers.

He introduced himself as Inuyasha, and I introduced myself as well. We chattered on and on about everything from school to Jell-O. We were automatically friends, but I couldn't quite understand the fluttering feeling in my stomach.

The topic somehow came to why I was crying, and the fluttering stopped. My eyes began to water again as I retold the tale, my lip quivering toward the end. A tear sped unintentionally down my cheek, but a warm hand quickly brushed it away. I looked up to see those intense eyes focused on mine, a sympathetic look on his face.

"Don't cry." He said as he grabbed my hand. "You're not a fatty-head. He was just a meanie."

The fluttering returned with a vengeance.

"Thanks" I said, and smiled. He blushed and turned away, but squeezed my hand a little tighter, all thoughts of cooties thrown out the window.

TEN YEARS LATER

"FINE! BE THAT WAY, BITCH!" he shouted at me. Another 'relationship' ended, all due to my nerdiness. I sighed and made my way toward a bench.

All throughout my short high school years, I had been teased relentlessly for being a geek. Marching band fanatic, total otaku, and a hunger for RPG games that could never be satisfied. Numerous break-ups with guys I had been set up with by so-called 'friends' had ended rather abruptly due to my low social status. Nearly every single one of them had attempted to transform me into some prissy little cheerleader snob, but not one had succeeded. I sighed once again. Maybe I was just meant to be alone….

"Mind if I join ya?" a familiar voice asked. I grinned and stretched myself across the bench.

"I dunno, there's not much room here." I joked. He chuckled and plopped down, giving me barely any time to retract my legs from the horrible fate of being crushed by his butt.

"'Nother one gone, eh?" he asked, his voice dropping an octave.

Inuyasha had matured over the years, as could be expected of any six year old. Now a good six inches taller than me, he was a total pretty boy. His hair was still a mop, though now it was a little shorter than mine. His tiny-whiny voice had developed into a low rumble, which could be either intimidating or soothing, depending on the circumstance. He still had a fixation with old martial arts kiddie shows though, the proof shown by his red Ninja Turtles t-shirt. His eyes were still as captivating as ever, I realized, as I looked over at him…

And so the stomach butterflies did a little dance.

"Yep." I sighed. I seem to be doing a lot of that today. "Maybe I'm just better off alone. Didn't like guys much, anyway." I laughed, humorlessly.

"Nah, don't say that. You'll find someone as nerdy as you." He chuckled. I smacked him on the arm and laughed. "Abusive, aren't we?"

"You know it." I laughed. Somehow during our abusive banter, our fingers had intertwined. He always seemed to make me feel better, even with the stomach butterflies he seemed to always bring with him.

"But trust me, there's someone there. Maybe closer than you think." He said.

"Trying to say somethin' there, Yasha?" I joked. A slight blush creeped onto his features, making me laugh harder.

"No, just sayin…" he muttered. I chuckled once again at his shyness.

"I know, I know. Thanks for cheering me up." I smiled. He blushed even harder, but squeezed my hand anyway.

'Some things never change,' I thought…

_Though, its not like I want them to…_


	2. Inuyasha's POV

Inu's POV!

Remember being a kid? Snot-nosed little brat who whined when you couldn't get your way. Too old to act 'childish', but too young to be a grown-up. Yeah, you got to be lazy and slack off in school (not that I would classify kindergarten as 'school'.), but that didn't make up for the fact that you weren't one of 'them'. The proud, the tall, the all-knowing 'big kids'. Zits and hormones aside, they seemed to be the Gods of the school bus, and it was the best privilege in the world to be blessed with their almighty presence on the way home. They got to go where they wanted, when they wanted, without using the 'buddy system'. Yeah, it seemed like you could only learn the secrets of the universe if you had a face full of pimples and the freakiest sex drive ever. But, some lessons can't be learned by those horny psychos. Some lessons you have to be a kid to understand…

"Sorry, sweetie!" my mom shouted out the car window.

Late for my first day in a new school, how wonderful. I barely had any time to introduce myself to my new teacher before I hopped on the bus to go home. The teacher wasn't too pleased with my less-than fashionably late appearance, but she said she'd let it slip…just this once. I made a mental note to remind mom that school started at ten, not two. I was nearly run over on my way out by some 'big-boned' kid, who shouted something about being a fatty-head. Honestly, my first thought was 'Take a look at yourself, buddy.' After the crowd had died down, I clamored onto the bus, making sure I was the last one. (Didn't want to get squished, me being under four feet tall.)

The first thing that caught my eye was a girl about my age, mumbling incoherently to herself and wiping at her face. She looked completely miserable, sitting all alone. For reasons unknown, I immediately felt my heart squeeze in my chest. I brushed off the feeling, blaming it on a bad happy meal, and walked over.

"Dummy…I am not a fatty head…" I heard her mutter. Now I had a vague idea of what happened.

"Are you okay?" I squeaked out. Great, I wasn't even a big kid and already my voice was sounding weird.

She just stared at her feet, kicking them against the seat before her. The lights from her shoes reflected in her warm brown eyes, making her seem a bit more cheerful. My heart squeezed again, though it wasn't a bad feeling, I had to admit. I silently sat beside her and joined in the staring…briefly, I wondered how the heck her shoes had been able to flash like that.

"I like your shoes." I commented. Finally, she looked up, and I was greeted with the deepest brown eyes I had ever seen. Without the tears hiding her face, she looked pretty cute…though I would never admit it, seeing as she may have cooties. Lucky for me, I had my cootie shot at my last school.

"Thanks. I like yours too." She said. I was pretty proud of my awesome, state-of-the-art Power Rangers sneakers, and being complimented only made me like her more.

I introduced myself, as any gentleman should. I found out her name was Kagome, and pretty soon we were chatting about anything and everything. How yucky vegetables were, how school was, the mysteries of why Jell-O wiggled… I'd grown rather comfortable talking to her, and casually asked what happened earlier that had upset her so much. Immediately the tears returned to her eyes, and my heart squeezed once again. Stupid organ…

She tearfully retold the tale of how she had unjustly been accused of being a big fat fatty-head. I remembered the big-boned brat, and felt sympathetic toward her. I had gotten plenty of insults due to my odd hair and eyes, and could relate to her situation…though I had no clue what a fatty-head was, I felt compelled to comfort her.

"Don't cry." I said, as I grabbed her hand, remembering what helped mommy when she remembered daddy. I'd had plenty of experience with crying girls (if you could classify a mom as a girl…I was still dumbfounded about that one.), seeing as my dad had died recently. "You're not a fatty-head. He was just a meanie."

She paused for a moment, before smiling and replying.

"Thanks." She said. Simple, yet it made my heart squeeze again. I knew I was going to blush, so I turned my head away and snorted, brushing it off and trying to be cool. She giggled softly, and for some reason, I held her hand tighter, as if trying to protect her from all the big-boned brats in the world. Still, I was glad as heck I had my cootie shot…

TEN YEARS LATER

"See ya later, 'Yasha!" Miroku yelled as he sped off on his bike. And no, not a motorbike, merely a five-speed mountain bike mainly held together by paint and sheer willpower. Yeah, he was lame, as every other sophomore had either his license or at least a learner's permit… but he was still my friend.

I turned the corner to head home after another snooze-filled day at school, when I saw her. Kagome, looking rather dejected, slumped onto a bench and sighed deeply. I hated seeing her so sad, and my heart squeezed again, for the millionth time. Strange, how even after ten years, she still had that effect on me… though lately it had been more often, and I knew what it meant now. I still refused to admit it, though. Cooties were no longer a factor, but I knew she only thought of me as a 'brother'….damn, I hate that word…

Well, sad Kagome plus lots of spare time equaled only one thing….Inuyasha to the rescue!

"Mind if I join ya?" I asked, though I already knew the answer. She grinned and stretched across the bench, taking up as much space as she could with her tiny body.

"I dunno, there's not much room here." She joked. I chuckled and made a move to sit on her legs, but she moved them away before I could.

"Nother one gone, eh?"

I knew she'd been having 'relationship problems' with dweebs her other friends had set her up with. Though she refused to admit it, I knew it hurt her. She'd always been teased for being a geek, though I couldn't see why. We'd both grown noticeably over the past ten years, as could be expected. But she had become more beautiful by the day. '_She's easily the prettiest in the class…'_ I thought, but stopped myself. I knew what path I was going down, and it wasn't good. You weren't supposed to feel this way about your friend.

"Yep." She sighed. She did that way too much…. "Maybe I'm just better off alone. Didn't like guys much, anyway." she laughed, though nothing was funny.

"Nah, don't say that. You'll find someone as nerdy as you." I joked. She whacked me on the arm and laughed, but I didn't care that she'd hit me. At least she was back to normal. "Abusive, aren't we?"

"You know it." she laughed. I had skillfully grabbed her hand during our joking, and mentally complimented myself on being so cool…right before I realized how dumb I was for complimenting myself.

"But trust me, there's someone there. Maybe closer than you think." Damn, that was hard to say! Hoping she got my drift without me being too obvious, I waited for her response.

"Trying to say somethin' there, Yasha?" she laughed. Yep, she'd gotten it. I blushed and turned away, still nervous as I was in kindergarten. She merely laughed harder.

"No, just sayin…" I mumbled. Man, I suck at this stuff…

"I know, I know. Thanks for cheering me up." She smiled, and my heart felt like it was in a vice. Once again I wondered why we even had the stupid organs, before remembering that it was necessary to live. I blushed and squeezed her hand slightly, a silent reassurance that I'd always protect her from the 'big-boned bastards' (the brats had evolved.) of the world. Yeah, I was just as wussy as ever around her…

_Though I can't say I don't like this feeling…_


End file.
